Thorns of Time
by OrangeKittyCat
Summary: The day that marks a year since her parents death is drawing closer and everything reminds her of their death. Can she trust anyone to confide in and does her deepest secret get revealed? Dedicated to Loome, Kitty and Inita!xD Jiro/Sahlia Friendship
1. Chapter 1

**It was Loome's idea for me to dedicate it to all of you, so well yeah, it's dedicated to all of you:) And if you don't know who all of you is, it's Kitty, Crisp Monster and Inita for everything:) Without you guys, I seriously can't imagine where I'd be now..**

**I've had this idea for a while, then I got flooded with inspiration last weekend, I hope you like it:D**

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><p>Sahlia stumbled around the dark city, terror flooding her. She felt blind without the lantern she'd carried around, but after some screams had been heard, she'd forgotten all about it. Her parents had tried to stop her from investigating, but being who she was, Sahlia hadn't listened. Now she was tripping in the darkness, she regretted it.<p>

Something curled around her, digging into her stomach. It was sharp, sinking into her flesh. Sahlia let out a yelp, clenching her eyes shut; she didn't even want a glimpse at the blood pouring down her stomach. Her head felt light as she felt the warm liquid trickling down her skin.

"SAHLIA!" A high-pitched voice screeched. Sahlia's eyes bolted open and light surrounded her. To her left, her mother and father were rushing towards her, clutching a ruby. Her eyes were drawn downwards, towards her stomach where she noticed thorned vines digging deep into her flesh. The Eat Yeet had her in his clutches.

Her father threw the ruby and flames burst from it. The vine loosened, dropping Sahlia to the floor. The world around her was spinning, blurry. The screams of the villagers seemed more distant now, fading into the distance. Darkness envloped Sahlia and...

She bolted awake, breathily heavily and trembling violently. Warm liquid drenched her cotton nightgown around her stomach area and Sahlia touched her hand to it. As she drew it away to look at it, she went a little dizzy. Her hand was covered in blood.

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><p><strong>Okay, if that didn't make much sense, I'll clear it up... The first bit was Sahlia dreaming about her parents death, then she wakes up and shes drenched in blood.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**I think I replied to the reviews via PM...? Is that right? **

**Dedicated to Loome, Inita and Kitty:D (I'm going to put this on every chapter, just to let you know;))**

**I hope you like it:D **

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><p>Sahlia stared out of the window with her knees pressed against her chest. She was dressed in a loose pair of grey cotton trousers which was tucked into two thick pairs of black socks, and a royal blue three-quarter sleeved turtleneck. Her hands were wrapped around her knees and her eyes were bloodshot. The dream replayed in her mind, haunting her every move. Why had her parents left her alone in this world? Why did they have to die instead of her?<p>

Being comforted may have helped her feel slightly better, but almost every member was out on a quest. Zola's mercenary skills were needed, same with the devee's dance skills, Shu's courage and Kluke's black magic tricks along with her accessive knowledge in medicine. The only one left behind was Jiro who had never really interacted with her. Sure, they'd talked a few times, but Sahlia wasn't sure whether or not to consider him as a friend.

The mechat was far from sight now, but Sahlia still stared out of the window as if it was within a few feet. It seemed to be the only thing that kept her mind off her parents and her... her problem. The problem she'd had since they'd died that only she knew about and was reluctant to share with the others to keep them from worrying. It was exactly the same reason she'd hadn't visited Kluke early that morning to get her stomach check out. Instead, she'd thickly coated it in bandages, hoping it was thick enough to keep the blood from seeping through onto her clothes.

"What are you doing here, Sahlia?" Jiro asked, almost breaking his calm tone. It was almost as though he'd been there all morning, but had only just noticed her presence. When she shot him a sort of I'm-not-in-the-mood look, he sat down on the window seat beside her. "I just meant that I thought I'd be alone... I thought they'd take you because of your magical baking skills..."

"And I thought they'd take you because of your healing abilities..." Sahlia said hoarsely, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Seems we were both wrong."

"Are you okay?" Jiro asked, trying to catch another glimpse at her face. He was sure that when he'd seen it before, her eyes had been-

"I'm fine!" She snapped, but her voice cracked at the last second. "In three days, it's been a year since my parents died... I had a dream about them dying last night." Sahlia turned to face Jiro, revealing how bloodshot her eyes really were, and the black rings that circled her eyes from lack of sleep.

"That's awful... What can I do to make you feel better then, Sahlia?"

"Leave me alone..." She said louding, then wincing and wrapping her arms around her abdomen.

"What happened to your stomach? Maybe I can look at it and-"

"NO! No-one will look at my stomach!" Sahlia interrupted, her eyes wide with horror. He'd been so close to revealing the thing she'd tried to keep from them.

"Please."

"No."

"Please, it'll help." Jiro whispered calmly, his soft gaze meeting hers. His eyes were full of concern for his... friend.

"Fine..." Sahlia breathed, biting back tears. Slowly, she removed her turtleneck. As she was doing so, Jiro's eyes widened with confusion and astonishment, until he noticed the white, loose, shoulder length t-shirt she was wearing beneath it. Without the turtleneck, Sahlia's figure looked much thinner, and the tops of her arms seemed like more bone than muscle. It was very different to how Kluke's arms were; her were strong and the right size for her height and weight.

Reluctantly, Sahlia lay back, revealing the bandage that lay beneath her shirt around her abdomen. She began to unwrap it, layer after layer. With each layer came more blood which clung to it. Jiro's expression seemed to quickly change from calm to a little more concerned. The 'patient' winced, knowing that it was almost all unwrapped. She stopped, wrapping her arms around her stomach once more.

"What's wrong?"

"P-Please, don't freak out..." Sahlia breathed, her voice shaking furiously, her eyes pricked with tears. She unwound the last few layers, dropping the bandage to the floor. A small gasp escaped from Jiro's mouth as he saw the sight before him.

Sahlia seemed as delicate as a flower when he looked at her like this; she was extremely emaciated, her bones jutting out more than they should. "It's awful, I know." She sobbed, throwing herself onto the floor. "I didn't eat for almost a month, than I ate very little, then I stopped again... And it carried on like that... When Shu saved me from killing myself, I hadn't eaten for two weeks... Once the Eat Yeet was killed, I tried to eat a lot again, but... I couldn't... I didn't want you guys to worry, so I didn't tell anyone." Tears were flowing down her face now, her entire face a bright crimson colour.

"Sahlia, I can help you with this... I don't need to tell the others, but I can help you get over it... All you need is support. But first, I need to heal you." Jiro said calmly, resting his hand on her shoulder. She nodded, slowly getting back onto the window seat and lying down. Her eyes closed as he summoned Miontaur, hoping that his healing spell would work. He cast 'Heala', hoping that if he used more strength, there'd be less chance of a fail.

The scars and blood vanished, making Sahlia look even thinner. Jiro closed his eyes to stop him from gasping, but opened them again. Sahlia was staring at him, tears pouring down her now drained face. "I'm sorry, Jiro. I should have never shown you." She breathed. Silently, he sat beside her, letting her rest herself on him. He wanted to comfort his friend and help her, but it was hard to do after he'd seen his mother go through a similar phase. A slight feeling of nausea passed over him as he thought of it, but the feeling passed when Sahlia whispered, "Thank you, Jiro. I never knew how kind and how good of a friend you could be."

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><p><strong>There will probably be onetwo more chapters... Hope you like it:)**


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